Summary
For the last eight years, one team ofCounter-Strike: Global Offensivefans has been working onCounter-Strike Classic Offensive. This mod, which was greenlit initially byValve, aimed to remake the originalCounter-Strikegame for a modern audience. Classic Offensive is described by its creators as an “homage to the original vision and mechanics of the game that started it all.”
In March, just as Classic Offensive was set to release, the teamwas contacted by Valve, who had “concerns that our mod may no longer be compliant with their guidelines,” leading the team to audit and rework things to Valve’s standards.
Unfortunately, a little under a month later, Classic Offensive is no more, with Valve putting its foot down with a Cease and Desist, distressing both the mod’s developers and its audience who were eagerly anticipating the release.
Counter-Strike Classic Offensive Shut Down By Valve After Eight Years
In a justifiably emotionalTwitter post, the Classic Offensive team said, “After eight years of development and despite being officially greenlit by Valve in 2017, we are devastated to announce the cancellation of Classic Offensive. This decision follows abrupt actions by Valve that prevent us from releasing or continuing development on the project.”
After eight years of development, and despite being officially greenlit by Valve in 2017, we are devastated to announce the cancellation of Classic Offensive.
Having submitted the build for review in October, Classic Offensive was “unexpectedly rejected in January 2025 with a generic response stating it was ‘not a good fit’.” This rejection directly contradicted Valve’s previous greenlighting of the project.
Classic Offensive’s developers state they were hit with a Cease and Desist just hours before the project was due to launch via ModDB. Valve stated it contained “derivative content” based on its own intellectual property.
After outlining the situation, the Classic Offensive team shared its thoughts on things.
“This position stands in stark contrast to Valve’s own greenlight approval of Classic Offensive, their historical tolerance (and benefit from) extensive modding communities, and the previous three decades of modding tradition that shaped many of their successful games”, they said. “Many careers, features, and game modes originated from Counter-Strike’s community mods, yet modding keeps becoming incredibly restricted.
“The situation has implications far beyond our project, raising serious concerns for the future of modding within Valve’s ecosystem. Modders should reconsider how they see Valve, a company that benefits from community creativity while being able to shut down years of work without warning, despite going through their defined process, which they can change drastically at any time.”
Modders should reconsider how they see Valve, a company that benefits from community creativity while being able to shut down years of work without warning.
In light of the situation, the Classic Offensive team created a website with afull timelineof the mod’s development and troubles with Valve. The website also details that, during its eight years in development, over 100 developers worked on the project in some capacity, with mapping, modeling, modding, and beta testing roles all part of the cycle.
Naturally, the sudden cancellation has disappointed those awaiting the game and those in the wider gaming scene.Following the news, multiple tweets weredirected at Valve,berating the company for “how out of touch they’ve gotten,” asking them to “reconsider or at least give an apology to the developers.”
It sets a dangerous precedent that, even after eight years, one’s work can be obliterated without prior warning.
